Chair having vertically adjustable seat



Oct. 9, 1951 J. N. KAHN I CHAIR HAVING VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SEAT Filed July 24, 1946 llllllllll UI INVEN TOR.

W 720mm fi h ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 9, 1951 CHAIR HAVING VEIStTICALLY ADJUSTABLE EAT Joseph Norman Kahn, St. Albans, N. Y., assignor of one-third to Edward J. Boss, Richmond Hill, N. -Y.

Application July 24, 1946, Serial No. 685,811

1 This invention relates toa chair having a seat of adjustable height, and constitutes an improvement on the invention described in my prior application dated January 3, 1945, Serial No. 571,139, now Patent No. 2,518,425.

It is an object of this invention to improve the stability of the assembled chair.

6 Claims. (Cl. 155-88) Another object is to simplify and to improve I the construction that provides adjustability of the seat.

Another object is to construct a chair with an adjustable seat that is maintained in assembled position by the weight of the sitter.

Another object is to provide means whereby an adjustable chair seat may be substantially supported by contact with part of the chair back, and will be maintained in contact therewith by the weight of the sitter.

The objects of the invention are accomplished, generally speaking, by a chair having an inclined back and preferably similarly inclined front legs,- or uprights, in which are openings designed to receive projections on the seat, these openings being so directed that the weight of the sitter tends to maintain the seat in firm and supporting contact with the back and the uprights. Particular novelty resides in the arrangement by'which the back is made to support the seat and by which the weight of the sitter is made to keep the seat in supporting position against the back.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for purposes of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference for this latter purpose being had primarily to theappended claims.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters refer .to like parts throughout the several views,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a high chair constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention; 1

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the means by which the seat is supported upon the back;

Fig. 4 is a Side view of a portion of the front upright of the chair; and

Fig. 5 is a front view of the same upright, showing the chair seat in assembled position.

In the figures of the drawings, numerals I0, I0 are the front legs of a high chair having back legs H, II" and a back l2. The front legs are connected to the back legs to form the frame of the chair by rods I 3; the back legs are connected together by rods M; and the front legs are connected together by the rods 15. The number and placement of these rods may be chosen by the maker to produce satisfactory strength.

The back I2 is supported upon the rear legs H, H, being joined thereto in any satisfactory manner provided in the furniture industry, for instance by means of screws I 5 having heads counter-sunk in the back. The legs II, II are preferably as widely spaced at their lower ends as the lower ends of the front legs, but are inclined toward their upper ends and joined to the lower end of the seat back. They are forwardly inclined upwardly and bevelled at their upper ends in order to provide the seat back with an inclination comfortable to the sitter. This inclination is indicated in Fig. 2. Similarly, this construction provides a seat back of adequate size to comfortably support the sitter while providing the high chair with a wide base well adapted to prevent the chair from being turned over by the gyrations of a small child.

The front legs of the chair, viewed from the front, are vertically aligned, as shown in Fig. 1, but when viewed from the side are found to have a rearward inclination upwardly like the inclination of the back l2. The front legs extend upwardly to a position about mid-way of the height of the back, in the construction shown in the drawings, and are connected to the back by arm rests [1. The back is therefore connected to the back legs at its bottom and is supported by the arm rests I1 mid-way of its height.

An adjustable seat 20 is provided for the high chair, and is intended to fit horizontally in the chair, in ordinary construction, although it will be readily understood that inclination could be provided if desired. The horizontally arranged seat is providedat its rear side 2| with a bevelled face, the angle of which is equal to the angle of inclination of the back 12 when the seat is in horizontal position. Holes 22 are provided in the back, several vertically arranged rows of these holes being provided at distances designed to provide comfortable adjustability of the seat to accommodate a growing child. The holes are spaced horizontally at distances equal to the spac- 3 as in Fig. 3. The pins 23 on the back of the seat are also downwardly inclined and of size not greater than the holes.

When the seat is assembled in proper position, the bevelled side 2| rests flat against the back !2 of the seat, and the pins 23 extend into the seat and into the back. The pins are preferably seated permanently, as by gluing, in holes in the seat. The inclination of the back is consequently such that in assembled relation, the bevelled edge of the seat rests flush against the front of the back, so that the back tends to support the weight of the sitter. This differs particularly from those constructions in which the seat is supported by the pins alone, which are subjected to shearing action at the joint, and provides the chair with greater safety and durability.

The seat is constructed and supported at its front end in a manner which cooperates with the construction that has just been described. In the inner sides of the front legs I9, Hi, there are provided slots 35, opening from the front of the legs and extending rearwardly and downwardly, as best shown in Fig. 4. These slots are undercut as shown at SI inorder to receive the heads of screw nails 32 that are carried by the sides of the seat near the front. This construction is particularly satisfactory and is preferably made by drilling a small hole in the selected part of the seat and driving the screw nail into a depth indicated in Fig. 5, so that the projecting head may be satisfactorily received in the slots 30. There are as many slots in each leg as there are vertically spaced rows of holes in the back l2, and the rear lower ends of the slots are sopositioned that the seat will be held in its desiredalignment when the pins are in the proper row of holes in the back and the screw nails are in the proper slots in'the front legs. The downward inclination of the slots tends to force the seat toward the back by cammin action and to increase the support that is offered by the inclined back to the inclined surface of the seat, when the seat is occupied by a sitter. For this purpose, the slots may be made slightly longer than is necessary, if desired.

The like inclination of the back and of thev front legsprovides for the proper vertical relation of the holes and the slots, and prevents the seat from being assembled in misaligned slots and holes.

In mounting the seat in a selected set of slots and holes, the screws are placed in the desired slots, and the seat is moved backward until the pins engage the holes in the back. Backward motion is continued until the bevelled side of the seat-is pressed against the back.

An advantage of the invention is in the wide spacing of the front legs, which permits exceptional activity for the legs of the child.

Another advantage of the invention is in the construction of the frame and theseveral permanently connected parts of the chair.

Another advantage is in the support of the rear end of the seat upon the back of the chair so that the entire weight of the sitter is not carried by the pins, although they also contribute to his support.

Another advantage of the invention is in the mounting of the front ends of the seat upon the front legs of the chair, and in the arrangement of the slots, so that by camming action they insure the continued engagement of the seat with the back so long as it is occupied by a sitter. Thedownward inclination of the pins prevents the activity of a child from disengaging the pins from the holes, and the inclination of the slots acts to prevent accidental disengagement of the seat by forward motion of the sitter.

Although only a single embodiment of the present invention is herein illustrated and described, it. is tobe expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Various changes may be made in the design and arrangement of the parts and in the materials used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as will now be apparent to persons skilled in the art. For a definition of the limits of the invention, reference is had primarily to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A, chair comprising a pair of spaced front uprights, a pair of spaced rear uprights, means for connecting said pairs of uprights together and for connectin said front uprights with said rear uprights, a back rest secured to said rear uprights, a seat disposed between said front vuprights in. abutting relation with said back rest, and means for supporting said seat at various levels on said back rest and said front uprights comprising, a plurality of vertically spaced sets of transversely spaced and aligned. openings in the front surface of said back rest intermediate the side edges thereof, a plurality of transversely spaced and aligned pins on and projectingv beyond the rear edge of said seat and engageable in a selected set of said openings, a plurality of vertically spaced downward-1y and rearwardly in.- clined grooves in the inwardly facing sides of said front uprights, and twoelongated members. on

';1' back rest is rearwardly inclined, said front uprights are likewise inclined, and the rear surface of said seat is inclined conforming to the inclination of said back rest.

A chair as defined inclaim 2, wherein the openings in said back rest and the pins on said seatare normal to the front surface of said back. rest.

4 A chair as defined in claim 1, wherein said. grooves open outwardly through the front surfaces of said front uprights and have undercut portions, and said elongated. members include enlarged portions receivable in and fitting said undercut portions.

5. A chair as defined in claim 4, wherein said undercut portionsof the grooves, and said enlarged portions of the members are dovetail. in shape.

6. A chair as defined in claim 4, wherein said elongated members consist of flatheadv screws, and said undercut portions of the groovesv are shaped to receive the-heads of said screws. in close fitting relation.

JOSEPH NORMAN KAHN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS McArthur Oct. 19, 1943 

